On casting bells and painting icons

“Flying before it is possible,

casting bells without knowing

how to do so, or painting an icon.

All of these acts demand

that the man dies as a reward

for his work, dissolving

into his piece, and

giving in entirely”

On casting bells and painting icons

In the industrialised world of art house film that takes on any kind of work (film, showing, book, research, or the like), it has become common to develop it through funds, laboratories, residencies, grants, and all manner of aid. After two decades of constant growth, these development spaces have become crucially important to the act of creation, and have transformed, moving from being tools of filmmaker support to being a sine qua non for those that produce these works.  Strangely enough, the chain of impulse and desire has flipped: one typically finds themselves in the world of assistance with the term or nomenclature stimulus: stimulus for production, stimulus for writing, etc., as if those wanting to make films need these stimuli to produce their personal projects that the world or system is not asking for.

At a time when state support for culture is increasingly threatened, and the trend is moving towards commercialising output, creators have become a piece/product in and of itself that must be constantly sold to markets and laboratories. In a world where the work itself ceased to be the end of the process, instead becoming a means for accessing these professional development spaces, it is more important than ever to ask ourselves about point of view and why we are making film, and what we are willing to sacrifice for our films to exist.

This conversation invites filmmakers, researchers, producers, programmers, archivists, curators, and any film-dedicated individual to participate and reflect on our relationship with desire and making film.